


I Never Was a Desert Rose

by Aoife, IShouldBeWriting



Series: In Search Of ... [3]
Category: Faerie Folklore, Islamic Lore, Labyrinth (1986), Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
Genre: Gen, Jinn, Kelpies, Making Use of World Mythology, Mistakes With Magic, Pacts With Supernatural Creatures, Ritual Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-27
Updated: 2013-05-27
Packaged: 2017-12-13 04:02:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/819749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aoife/pseuds/Aoife, https://archiveofourown.org/users/IShouldBeWriting/pseuds/IShouldBeWriting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Kelpie shakes her loose and someone else sets Sarah back on track.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Never Was a Desert Rose

The kelpie ran, past forests and towns, past cliffs and ravines. And Sarah clung to it’s mane with both hands and to its back with clamped thighs despite a burning ache in every protesting muscle and the vague memory that in lore a Kelpie’s back was sticky … wasn’t it? That was how they dragged their prey into the water to drown them. But the world spun, and raced, and blurred nauseatingly, and she no longer trusted that anything was real.

“Stop!” She cried, fearing that her cramped fingers and burning legs were no longer able to hold on.

The kelpie came to a bone-jarring halt, tossing it’s mane and twisting its head round to watch Sarah’s reaction with what she swore must have been amusement. At least she _thought_ it was as she lost consciousness and slid from its back. But then, perhaps that smile had held a touch of malice as well?

“Finally. I thought I’d never be rid of you. Good riddance to you, bastard-child.” The kelpie looked at its surroundings with a distasteful shudder. “And good luck finding your way out of this place before it kills you.” With that, it turned, and followed its nose back towards the nearest (far distant) water source and the safety of its herd.

When Sarah woke she could tell that time had passed, though how much time was definitely a question she was ill equipped to answer. She was beginning to wonder whether this world actually had defined days and nights, much less any sense of linear time. But this was not the same place she had started off in. The air was far drier and hotter than before.

On the off chance that it would tell her something useful, Sarah pulled out her compass. _Nope, still not able to point the way home, poor thing._ Snapping it shut, she tucked the item back into her pack, giving its burnished brass surface a fond stroke before zipping the bag shut once more.

“Come on, feet,” she muttered optimistically to herself. “Looks like we’ve got some exploring to do.”

Looking upward didn’t provide her any better sense of which direction to go than had the compass. The sun shone straight downward, illuminating everything with the same harsh omni-directionality as it would have at noon in her own world. And the Kelpie had left her no hoof prints; though she wasn’t sure if that was something to do with it’s own nature or if there had been enough of a wind to erase them between it’s departure and her waking up again.

“This _is_ the Underground, so I suppose that how places connect to each other must be changeable. One direction’s as good as another. It’s The Will, the intent, that matters most.” 

Sarah pulled the pack off her back and dug around inside it for a minute, one hand emerging triumphantly at last with the item she’d been seeking. Pulling her hair back, Sarah wrapped the thin gauze scarf around her head and face, protecting herself from both sun and swirling sand. Zipping the bag again, she shrugged it back into place on her shoulders, leaving her hands free.

She pirouetted, the toe of one shoe dragging across the sand to scribe a circle around her. 

_Not as formalized as I’d like, but it should do for now. Besides, this shouldn’t take long. What I’m asking for is fairly simple._

“Above,” she intoned, gesturing to the sky above her. 

“Below,” she dipped at the waist, gesturing to the ground.

“Hear me, one and all. I’ve lost sight of the path you set for me. Show me the way. Take me back to the path which leads to Jareth, Goblin King.”

“Sooooo...” a voice emanating from nowhere and everywhere rang clearly like a bell. “You’ve lost your way have you, Bright One? And to wander into my lands in the process ...”

“I -” Sarah swallowed convulsively, feeling suddenly parched. “ I’m sorry to have trespassed. As I said, I’ve gotten turned around. Could you show me the way back? I’m searching for the Goblin King.” 

A wind began to pick up around her, plucking and teasing at her clothing, trying to dislodge the scarf she’d wound around her head. 

“We’d have to make a bargain, you and I.”

“What sort of bargain?” Sarah asked, eyes narrowing.

“A favor for a favor, young one.”

“I’m not in the habit of owing favors without knowing what I owe beforehand. _Favor_ is a very open-ended term, my lord.”

The voice laughed and the wind started to pick up grains of sand from the desert floor, pelting them against her skin like peas shot from a pixie’s drinking straw.

“My kind do not bear young easily. To that end, we require... assistance. Some day when one of my wives and I are so blessed, I will call on you. Bring my child safely into this world, bright one, and we will call our pact completed.1”

“But I know nothing -” Sarah began to protest.

“And you need know nothing. So long as you have The Will, your hands will work truly, guiding my heirs safely into this world. The Will - and to have begun your human menarche - is all that’s needed.”

“Done then. For that is a bargain I feel safe in making, Master Jinn.”

“So you’ve figured that out, have you?” His laughter rolled rich as the promise of water heralded by a peel of thunder in the desert. “And you know a little of your lore, Bright One; not asking me for _wishes_ , in the same breath.” The wind whipped harder, spinning her around. “For that, I’ll offer you something for free as our bargain is worthless to me without your survival. Be more careful of your words, Bright One; and remember that names have power, here.” The wind strengthened, whirling her round faster, and ripping off the scarf she’d wrapped around her face.

“Enjoy the Court, Bright One.” She blacked out from the pain of sand scouring against exposed flesh.

**Author's Note:**

>   
>  1: [The jinn require the services of human midwives, and it is said that every midwife must help deliver a jinn child for every one hundred human children she delivers. ](http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/genie-)


End file.
